I glanced at Derek, who continued the story. “Someone was in your home, Trudy, and they had a gun pointed at you. As they pulled the trigger, Amelia ran over and shoved you out of the way. The bullet went through your shoulder and hit her in the chest. I’m sorry, Trudy, but Amelia died yesterday.”
I gripped her hand as she gasped. She glanced from Derek to Robson to me, gasped again, and then couldn’t seem to catch her breath. “No. No. No. No.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
Her eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head. “It’s not possible. It can’t be true. Robson, tell me the truth.”
“Oh, Trudy.” Robson stood up, leaned over, and pressed his cheek to the top of her head. He couldn’t lift her up and hold her because her shoulder was bandaged.
I kept my hand locked on hers and felt her squeezing it so tightly, I could barely feel my fingers. I didn’t care.
Derek walked out into the hall to find a nurse. I knew we’d dealt a crushing blow to Trudy’s spirits. She would probably need a tranquilizer, and I wondered if she’d be able to come home as early as they’d said.
But almost as upsetting was seeing how distraught Guru Bob was. I’d never seen him like this before. It was perfectly understandable, of course, but I’d always known him to be so strong. He seemed to have aged overnight.
I had a feeling the best thing for Guru Bob—and everyone else—would be for Trudy to regain her memory and fully recover from this awful experience. But who knew how soon that would happen?
“Tell me everything,” Trudy said abruptly, letting go of my hand and grabbing the remote control to bring her hospital bed to a fully upright position. “I want to hear it all, no matter how horrible. I’m heartsick and my head can barely accept what you’re saying, but if you tell me the whole story, I might be able to remember something.”
“All right,” I said, thrilled that she was willing to act, not just sit back and worry.
Robson sat down just as Derek walked back into the room with a nurse, but Trudy waved her away. “Thank you, Lynette, but I don’t want any shots or sleeping pills right now.” She trembled and sniffled twice before her eyes narrowed in on Derek. “I want you to find the person who did this, and you can only do that if I can recall what happened. And dozing off for the next three days won’t help.”
Guru Bob’s concerns for his beloved cousin seemed to dissipate slowly as Trudy spoke. He scooted his chair closer and took hold of her hand again. It seemed to comfort him as much as it did her.
Derek leaned against the wall facing her. “Can you think back to the last thing you do remember?”
Trudy stared at him for a moment, then said, “Dinner. Wednesday night. Amelia served my favorite, chicken stew with dumplings.” She frowned. “After that, nothing.”
For some reason, that filled me with sadness. Wednesday was the night before Amelia was killed. So she remembered nothing about Thursday.
I continued telling her what had happened. “When I saw you lying on the floor, I ran over to help you. I vaguely registered that Amelia was sprawled on the chair, but I was more worried about you. I didn’t even think . . .”
“That she might be in worse shape than I was?”
“Yes. I’m sorry. My concern was with you. I felt your pulse and knew you were alive, so I pulled out my phone to call nine-one-one.”
Derek added, “And she was attacked from behind by the killer, who hit her over the head with a vase.”
Trudy’s eyes were wide as she realized I’d been injured, too. “Dear God. Brooklyn, I’m so sorry.”
“None of this is your fault,” I insisted. “And I’ll be fine. I’ve got a hard head.”
She gave me a weak smile. “So much damage. Why? What in the world happened?” She took another glance at each of us. “I’m the only one who knows. And I can’t remember.”
“But you will,” Robson said, squeezing her hand for encouragement. “Your memory will return shortly, and you will be able to tell us who did this horrible deed.”
She nodded. “I will. I promise.” Her eyelids fluttered closed. “I’m so tired.”
I thought about asking her if she knew where Elizabeth was, but Trudy had been through enough trauma today. I didn’t want to compound it by suggesting that her new friend had disappeared.
Lynette, the nurse, must’ve been hovering at the door, because she walked into the room just then. “I’d like you to let her sleep. She’s been devastated by the news. Sleep will help her get her strength back and, in turn, it’ll help with her memory.”
“Yes, we’d better go,” Derek said, looking at me as though he thought I could use some sleep, too. Frankly, he was right. I was exhausted.
“I will stay for a few more minutes,” Robson said. “I would rather she have someone here in case she wakes up.”
I walked to the other side of the bed and gave him a hug. “She’s going to be all right.”
“Thank you, gracious,” he said.